Scratching the Ice
by RoslinSharp
Summary: "Even back in the early days when she was a teensy bit scared of her , Skye's always thought that May is kind of...well...hot."


She's lying on the mat with the breath knocked out of her. Her dark hair's fallen out of the messy bun she tied it in, (hey if she's going to keep this up, maybe a punk haircut is in order), and is now covering her eyes in a tangled brown weave.

"Skye."

She can hear the voice of her SO beyond the sea of stars and messy hair that dances in front of her.

"Right on it, boss."

She manages to pull herself to her feet and positions herself in front of May, ready for the next round.

"Okay, dead or alive you're coming with me!"

May has obviously never seen Robocop, because she slightly raises her left eyebrow, which for anyone else would be a look of absolute consternation.

"Stand down Skye, we're done for the day."

"What do you mean, we're done? I was just getting started. You know I can take you-"

The room spins around her. She feels herself falling again...right into May's arms.

May holds her up as they walk out of the training area.

"You're exhausted," May says as she drops Skye off at Simmons' lab. "We're taking tomorrow off."

"Hey, you said we were going to start flight lessons tomorrow and-" One look from May is enough to silence that train of thought. "Okay, day off tomorrow. Got it. I think I'll go see Fitz."

…

"Honestly Skye, I don't know why you're letting May work you so hard."

"It's not her Simmons," Skye grimaces as she pulls herself up from the cot in the infirmary.

"I've been doing a bit of training in my off hours, without her supervision. I guess it finally caught up with me."

It's a lie, but there's no way Skye's telling Simmons the truth. What can she say? That she wakes up in the middle of the night and can't back to sleep until she slides over to the gym and pretends the punching bag is Grant Ward's face?

"Well, all my tests show is that you're exhausted, but no worries. I've prepared you a tonic that will hydrate you and ensure a good night's sleep by all."

Skye rolls her eyes in annoyance.

"Oh come on, Simmons. It's bad enough that I'm practically living off of May's protein shakes!"

"Now, now," her British friend replies. "You wouldn't want me to tell your SO what you've been up to, would you?"

….

May probably already knows, Skye thinks as she lays in her bunk that night. Maybe that's what today's intense round of martial arts was about, showing Agent Skye her limits. Not that Skye minds. That's something about working with May that's just damn exhilarating.

Four months of training and she's got muscles in places where she didn't think you could grow them. She and May are up most days at 5 hitting the mats, going over old Shield protocol, and occasionaly sitting in the cockpit in silence. Ward had never worked her so hard, but then again teaching her to be a decent Shield agent had never been on Grant Ward's agenda.

Her mind flashes back to that moment in the training room when she fell into May's arms, the feel of the older woman's body against hers. It had been nice. Actually, it had been better than nice. Even back in the early days when she was a teensy bit scared of her , Skye's always thought that May is kind of...well...hot.

….

"You don't have to look at me like that, Skye. I'm telling you, I'm going to be the next Stephen Hawking. Just imagine me, deciphering the wonders of my cosmos from my wheelchair, once I get a wheelchair. You know, I wrote one of my dissertations on the mechanics of the Chitauri wormhole. Shield had it classified, but I saved a copy to a thumb drive. It may still be at my Mom's house."

"Right Fitz, that's exactly what I think when I see nowadays. Stephen Hawking. Listen, if Coulson can come back from the dead and I can survive two rounds to the gut, you're going to walk again. Actually, you're going to do better than walk. As soon as the doctors give you the all clear, I'm taking you dancing at the first bar we see. Drinks are on me."

Fitz laughs, and for a moment, Skye almost forgets about the hospital bed and the many, many IV tubes connected to her friend. It's her and Fitz hanging out together, just like old times.

"I'm really not much of a dancer Skye, I'd probably just step on your toes."

"Hey, if May can teach me taekwondo, which by the way I totally qualify for a black belt in, then I can teach you to dance."

"Speaking of May, you two have been spending a lot of time together lately."

"Well of course I have Fitz, she's my SO."

"True, but that doesn't explain why your face lights up everytime you say her name. Does someone have a crush on the teacher?"

Leave it to Fitz to figure out the truth while the rest of the team is preoccupied with Hydra cleanup.

"What? Of course not, she's like twice my age...and kind of scary."

Fitz chuckles.

"You're a terrible liar, just like Jemma. Gotta admit it, Skye, Agent May is kind of hot."

Skye looks around for something, anything, to get out of this incredibly awkward conversation.

"Oh look," she says pulling out her phone, which is conveniently out of Fitz's visual range. "There's a message from Coulson, he wants me back at base."

She leans over and gives Fitz a peck on the cheek.

"We'll spend more time together on my next day off. I promise. I'll even watch Doctor Who with you."

Fitz gives her a suspicious look. Of course he knows she's lying, but the prospect of more Doctor Who is too tempting.

…

The nighmares come again that night. She's walking through an abandoned city this time. Smoke and flames billow up around her, but Skye remains untouched. In the distance, she can hear a baby crying...

And Skye wakes up, dripping with sweat.

She sighs and rolls over, then pulls herself out of bed.

"Time for another night with the punching bag," she mumbles to the empty room.

…

Skye doesn't walk as much as stumble towards the kitchen. She doesn't even bother turning on the light, just reaches into the cupboard, grabs a cup and heads towards the sink for a glass of water.

"Trouble sleeping?"

The cup falls to the floor and rolls under the refrigerator. Skye flips on the lights to reveal her SO sitting on the couch.

"Christ May, you scared the crap out of me! What are you doing here?"

"I should ask the same of you, Skye," May counters. "Back when I was in college and couldn't get to sleep, I used to go for a drive. Would you like to join me on a midnight run?"

"Uh, sure," Skye replies awkwardly, "but there aren't any roads around here."

"It's a figure of speech." May says smoothly as she leads Skye towards the hanger bay.

….

"You were right, I'm feeling sleepy already. Maybe we can go back now?"

They've been in the air for thirty minutes and, while the view is very pretty, Skye is all too aware that she's sitting in her pajamas in the same jet Victoria Hand died in.

"Seduction is a field all specialists are trained in," May says softly, "I know every trick and play in the book. Ward still managed to fool me."

'Okay, this is new.'

"He let me believe that he'd had his eyes on me for weeks. Ward made himself be what I needed, a sex partner with no strings attached. And, just to keep me from guessing, he even hinted that he wanted more."

"Oh May, why...why are you telling me this?"

May leans forward to brush a stray lock of hair out of Skye's eyes.

"Because it's what you needed to hear. You're not alone."

Skye doesn't even think. It's like her body is acting on impulse. She cups May's face in her hands and kisses her.

To her surprise, May kisses her back and pulls her into an embrace, putting every other person Skye's ever locked lips with to shame.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," her teacher says when they come up for air. "Care to come back to the base with me and finish what we started?"

Melinda May is absolutely gorgeous when she smiles.


End file.
